1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to an input device of a touch panel type for a vehicle, and more particularly to a panel input device of a touch panel type which provides an electrical input signal by a touch panel of a digital input method, wherein the touch panel uses a sensor for sensing an electric field.
2. Background Art
Generally, in a vehicle, various convenience apparatuses, such as an air conditioner, a heater, an audio system, a navigation system, are arranged and used for the convenience of a driver. For example, an audio system is an example of a convenience apparatus in a vehicle.
A cassette player and a radio may be included in the audio system for a vehicle. Further, various apparatuses such as a compact disk player, an MP3 player (Moving Pictures Experts Group 3 Player), a mini disk player, or the like may also be included in the audio system, and may be arranged by the driver. Recently, as various memory card slots have been applied to the audio system for vehicle, it is possible to provide an extensible audio system for vehicle to users.
Further, in the inside of the vehicle, there is an interface for controlling operation of the audio system, and a window for displaying the status of the operation, that is preferably referred to as a front panel.
Recently, as driver preferences have changed, and the audio systems have added more functions, more buttons are included in the audio system so that the buttons may control many functions and may display the status of the functions. However, the area of the front panel of the audio system was limited in the inside of the vehicle, and accordingly, a structure with a lot of buttons and windows can be complicated in a limited area.
FIG. 1 is a view for illustrating an exemplary audio front panel of a buttoned switch type according to the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a section view of a button in the audio front panel of an exemplary buttoned switch type according to a prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of buttons 11 are equipped in the audio front panel 10 of a buttoned switch type according to the prior art. Preferably, since parting lines may be produced at the front side of the audio front panel 10, a sense of unity of design may be lost, and buttons may be excessively exposed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, since a space for mounting the buttons of at least 16 mm is required, the space for button size must be adequately secured in order to ensure button sensitivity, and accordingly, it may cause a problem that it may be not applied to the simple design. Further, a cost for manufacturing the button may increase since molding dies are suitably manufactured for each of the buttons, respectively, and it is not possible to manage steps between the buttons. Moreover, since it is difficult to apply various materials, a surface finishing process may be not easily performed.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for input devices for a touch panel type for a vehicle.
The above information disclosed in this the Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.